This time the sound of Stryker personnel carriers rolling into the town of Himbus had a triumphal rumble to it. Two weeks after launching an offensive to drive Al Qaeda in Iraq from its stronghold in Diyala province, American soldiers were back, arriving in broad daylight in a trio of provincial towns to see townsfolk cautiously venturing into streets they had once avoided and interacting openly with Iraqi security forces.

Platoons watched as residents lined up for fleece jackets and rice being distributed by Iraqi soldiers in the hamlet of Abu Musa. Soldiers mingled with people receiving medical care for the first time in weeks at a clinic in Himbus. And they stood guard while men, women and children filled jugs of kerosene from a tanker truck in Taiha.

“Iraq forces now have control of the bread basket, announced Lt. Col. Rod Coffey, commander of the 3rd Squadron of the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment. “The facts on the ground are we have freedom of movement and the insurgents do not.”

And as always with the removal of al-Qaeda will come the stories of horrific atrocities by Muslims on Muslims. I still think the big slogan for ’08 will be “al-Qaeda no longer the future of Islam in Iraq, it is the enemy”. True, to the point and the essence of why Iraq was worth it.

Finally, the dems keep losing ground on the cornerstone program of our national security – the ability of the NSA to listen in on terrorists overseas and pass leads to the FBI and FIS Court concerning contacts they have with people here in the US. The liberals are so frightened their aimless babbling will be listened to they forget the focus of our efforts is not on their delusional fantasies but finding when terrorists overseas make contact with potential allies here in the US and stopping them from killing Americans. There is nothing more enjoyable that reading Glenn Greenwald blow his gaskets at democrats over FISA reform.

Update: Seems al-Qaeda has decided the best way to gain converts to Islamo Fascism is to mass murder Muslims. It is how they lost support in Iraq and is it still galvanizing Iraqis to oppose al-Qaeda and ally with the US. You know, Hitler and Moussolini never figured it out either. I know one liberal ghoul who will be happy today. I get emails from some nut named Ken Hoop who relishes every death al-Qaeda pulls off in Iraq. He seems almost to be in orgasm when they kill an American – they guy is seriously emotionally disturbed. He is probably one of the few enjoying the carnage today – must be a related to Goebbels or something.

Interesting – I googled “Ken Hoop” and it seems that his life consists of hate-mail to any number of bloggers. The central point of convergence for him seems to be an intense, burning hatred of Jews in general and Israel in particular, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s one of those old “Stormfront” guys. That flavor of hatred seems to have always been their specialty. (Does he have a picture of Der Fuhrer in his closet? With him and his bunch, it’s possible.)

Another marker for id’ing the Stormfronters – they claim to be “conservative”, but in fact they have an intense and abiding hatred for this country no matter who runs it.

And finally, it looks like we are nearing the point where Iraqi troops take the lead nationwide in Iraq:

BAGHDAD – The United States and Iraq will soon begin negotiating a power shift for U.S. forces, nearly five years after they invaded Iraq and installed a new government, Iraqi and U.S. officials told NBC News on Thursday.

Both countries are working on assembling negotiating teams to shape a new long-term bilateral strategic agreement redefining the fundamental role of U.S. troops, whose mission would shift from combat operations to logistics and support, the officials told NBC Newsâ€™ Richard Engel.

President Bush did not address the report at an economic briefing for reporters Thursday afternoon in Washington, but Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, confirmed that negotiations would begin soon. Petraeus would not provide details, but he said the U.S. role in Iraq would be changing.